Children naturally express themselves in the language of play. Children have always delighted in playing in the sand, bringing their inner and outer worlds together through imagination. In Sand play therapy, the vast array of toy figures and images provided by the therapist to choose from, provides them with an immense “vocabulary” to communicate what they often may not have the words to articulate and give expression to the chalenges they afe coping with on a daily basis. The tray of sand, with its solid boundaries gives them a free and protected space to work out their problems.The child is given the possibility, by means of figures and the arrangement of the sand in the area bounded by the sandbox, to set up a world corresponding to his or her inner state. In this manner, through free, creative play, the child's inner world is made visible in a three-dimensional form.

For teens, Sandplay Therapy is typically a complement to traditional "talk therapies." It may involve a good part of a session, or perhaps only a few minutes. One of the rich aspects of Sandplay is that it may be a verbal process, or it may be non-verbal. Either way, a great deal is expressed and worked through.